Furniture and Home Decor

Hi Folks! Your editor Aziza here. It’s “Black Friday” and I’ve compiled a little gift giving guide for you that might give you some ideas. “Egyptian Chick Magazine” needs support to continue with new and exciting issues so we ask that you consider some of the many fine products available from “Amazon.” If you purchase through our links “Egyptian Chick Magazine” gets a small commission on the sale. So we hope you will consider helping us this way. I have found some mighty cool stuff to consider as gifts this season. There are also many membership and specialty item deals going on right now too. Check it out and see how you can save and entertain loved ones this season and all year round.

For a young person or the “child in all of us” – here is a real charmer: A 10.5 inch plush “Bastet”by “Bundle of Joy.”

Buying for someone who likes make-up? Check out the pretty colors in “The Balm of Your Hand” face palette by “The Balm” cosmetics. The company is “cruelty free” and is also Oil-free, talc-free, paraben-free, and non-comedogenic.

The face palette contains favorites from their best sellers, including 4 perfectly coordinated eyeshadows, 3 blushes, a matte bronzer, a champagne-hued highlighter, a red lip color and a nude lip and cheek cream. For those who may have a “wicked” sense of humor there is another palette of “matte” eye shadows and it’s cleverly called “Meet Matt(e) Trimony!”

If you take a trip how about keeping your skin smooth? Try Organic Fields of Heather brand body cream in “Egyptian Jasmine Scent.”

This wonderful lotion is handcrafted in small batches in New Hampshire from the finest ingredients including aloe vera, coconut, and Shea butter. There is also a “Crown Jewel Facial Cleanser” that is often paired with this as a gift combo.

If you want to give a gift for cozy comfort at home why not some fabulous 800 thread count 100% Egyptian Cotton Sheets from the “Chateau Home Collection?” They are deep pocketed and come in a variety of soft sensual colors.

Before I go here are some special things going on for “Black Friday” from Amazon…

Anything you could ever want or need is at Amazon…

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Letter from the Editor:

Well, here we are to August! The Spring and Summer have been very interesting for me as I traverse the “ups and downs” of publishing a polished online magazine. In just a few months I have covered artists, belly dance history, archeology, social causes, “17 year Cicadas,” antiques, fashion, and took a wild ride with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Two of the most exciting things to happen to me in a while was meeting and hearing Bernie Sanders speak in person and performing for a WV flood survivors benefit. The movement Bernie set aflame was truly historic and the fact that it has ended on a bad note is actually tragic. Debbie Wasserman Schultz ended up resigning but it was “too little too late.” Also, leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouths are the incidences of apparent “voter fraud” in a few states-lost votes. Our democracy had not shown a “crack” in it’s veneer like this since the Al Gore “hanging chad” debacle. This is the reason that “moving on” is so difficult for Bernie’s followers.

Then the rains came, weaving a path of destruction through parts of the state of WV. It was extremely fulfilling to be allowed to help raise money for the survivors. To help your fellow man is a truly noble calling.

I’m sure Bernie would be proud.

Huntington and Charleston, WV area belly dancers Tiffani Ahdia and Susan Hughart decided to join an effort to ease the suffering of the many people displaced by the floods that battered parts of WV recently. On July 16th, I was honored to join them and some other wonderful entertainers to help raise money for “Elk River Backpack Blessings” an organization dedicated to gathering necessities for people displaced by the floods who may be in and out of temporary shelters.

The owners and management of the “La Belle Theatre” in South Charleston, WV were kind enough to donate their facility and equipment for the show. The line-up for the evening included Tiffani Ahdia, Susan Hughart and her daughter Sara Hughart, Jon Hawkins playing classical Spanish guitar, folk singers Drew Hussell and Russ Kennedy on acoustic guitar, Charity Hairston modern dancer, singer, and poet, “Samadhi” dance company with a vintage hula dance tribute, Gretchen Addison with jazz vocals, and myself, Aziza Al-Tawil with a song and dance tribute to the golden age of Greek tavernas and in particular, “The Sirocco,” owned by legendary guitar player Aris San and frequented by stars like Anthony Quinn and Telly Savalas. Throughout the evening we were also charmed by “magical” appearances of “Twinkle the Fairy”-AKA Cari Stone whose handle on classic mime and comedy charmed everyone.

Actor Billy Jack Watkins (“Hallowed Eve Escape 1 and 2,” “Dark Gathering,” “Jayne Mansfield and Protozoa”) meets up with “Twinkle the Fairy”(Cari Stone) for a fun moment after the show!

If you missed the “Falling Tides” show you can still donate to “Elk River Blessings” at this link: WV Flood Relief.

After years and years of being located on 9th Ave. between 55th and 56th St. the legacy of the late great belly dance performer, teacher, and pioneer is now moving to a new location. You might ask “why after all these years?” The answer is very simple: The landlord raised the rent too high! If you are looking to take classes with the lovely protégé’s that still carry the torch of her knowledge into the new “millennia” you can do so at “Belly Dance America,” 265 West 37th St., second floor. Here is a link to Serena Studios website with updated class and location info: “Serena Studios Online”.

Billy Jack bought some roses the other day and he and I set out to make a display using one of them. McLaren Vale “Snake Charmer” Wine and a fake plastic skull really make this shot. Along with a charming ceramic frog in a top hat Billy’s mother made. The pot is one of a set of two my mother and I used to balance fire on our head in during “Laz.”

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Letter from the Editor :

Since we saw you last, our staff rested up from joining and covering the Bernie Sanders campaign in West Virginia, springtime pollen and the rainy season has dissipated, and we are on to new subjects to intrigue you for this June’s issue. (Don’t be surprised if by August there will be more about Mr. Sanders and what went down in July with his heroic struggle against the establishment to be the nominee). The 17 year cicadas are out in the region marking some new beginnings, there has been no news of Nefertiti’s chamber exploration yet, but we have heard that a dagger belonging to “King Tut” is made of iron from a “meteorite.” (Remember when there were rumors that the Ancient Egyptians were really from “outer space!”).

Sadly, after informing the public on the latest “Female Genital Mutilation” statistics in our April issue, the death of a girl in Egypt from that banned procedure done in a hospital has made worldwide news and shows us we need to keep vigilant in this subject.

This month’s highlight on art is an up close look at 19th century French “Orientalist” vases by Peccatte. There are also some shopping links and vintage dance images to inspire you. I’m the cover model for this month.

Thank you for reading, Aziza Al-Tawil “Editor in Chief”

“Nymph Stage” : Memories of the Cicadas of 1982

By Aziza Al-Tawil

The empty “shell” left clinging to a tree after a 17 year Cicada has emerged, Charleston, WV June 1, 2016.

I will never forget that Spring in 1982, when my grandmother was still living, and my mother and I moved to Charleston, WV to be near her. I was a young woman going through “puberty” who was leaving the life of a child performer in NYC to try and make a transition to regular kid for a while. The NYC school board had hounded us mercilessly over “home schooling” in a time that going to school was becoming more and more dangerous in the “Big Apple,” then my mother got sick with “Narcolepsy” from all the pressure, and finally we saw the proverbial “Handwriting on the wall.” We arrived on the “Amtrak” and my life would never be the same.

My dreams of Broadway stardom were dashed at this time but having the spirit of one who never says “die” I entered school and “The National Forensics and Drama League” at “Stonewall Jackson High School” with every intent of blossoming as an actress and a human being.

Grudgingly, I was going through several life passages and upheavals at once. I also wanted to once and for all kiss a boy the way they did in the “old movies.” I wanted our lips to engage tenderly, softly, moistly, for hours on end until, drunk on each other’s “nectar,” we lay collapsed in each other’s arms in the dark. (Alas, this fantasy would not come to be until I was sixteen!)

All of my longings were still churning within me and at this point had reached fever pitch. Therefore, it was interesting at this time for the whole world to become cacophonous with the sounds of a bug. A bug once told in a Greek folk tale to hop on the neck of a “Cithara” and take the place of a broken string thereby helping “Eunomos” (Mr. Goodtune) the player of the instrument to win a competition.

Socrates believed these bugs to actually have once been men. Men who were so mesmerized by the “Muses” and their “Music” they forgot to eat or drink and then withered away only to return free from the earth in a “resurrection” 17 years later. The Greeks also tended to think that the moist looking creature that first emerges and basically lives on the “dew” or “sap” represented man becoming free through an ability to “love.” The tearing up of our eyes when we see the object of our affection, our other juices flowing when feeling this kind of passion when we behold our beloved. Through this kind of physical experience we gain immortality.

The Ancient Chinese also had a fascination with cicadas – to them they represented such broad themes as “resurrection,” “fertility,” “longevity and eternal youth,” and they used the bugs in Chinese medicine formulas. The bugs were also popular and prominent in jewelry including renderings in jade, not as much as the “Scarab” in Ancient Egypt but quite a bit “widespread” nonetheless. Carved cicadas have been used as part of clothing “toggle closures” in Chinese clothing.

“Hunnic” Cicada Brooch first half of the 5th Century A.D. Courtesy of “Christies.”

“Hunnic” Cicada Brooch Rear View, first half of the Fifth Century A.D.

There are 2500 or so species of Cicadas (“Homoptera”). It is interesting to note that many times these bugs are confused with “locusts”- the difference being that locusts are “Grasshoppers” and “Cicadas” are more like a type of “fly.” Ironically, that February of 1982, what would become a bit of a “cult classic” horror film was released and “The Beast Within” was indeed a “17 year Cicada.” Why exactly a virtually harmless creature like a “cicada” was chosen to be “The Bad Guy” is somewhat puzzling. It calls to mind the confusion once more between “Cicada” and the more ravenous, potentially destructive “Locust.” The movie has a host of fine actors like Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, and Don Gordon. It is rumored that some of the plot points were lost to the “cutting room floor.” Perhaps, therein, lies an explanation of the “Cicada” metamorphosis of the teenage boy-if not there than in the book which it is based on which I have not read.

Movie poster for the 1982 horror film “The Beast Within.”

Roman Cicada or Fly “Fibula” Third Century A.D.

In 1999, I was not near an “emergence” of the cicadas. So now that I am back in Charleston, WV for a while I find myself wanting to take note of this event and reminisce about 1982. This week, right before the magazine “went to press,” I went out to take a few pictures of our strange visitors.

Another view of the empty shell

Two Cicadas mating on a rock.

As for me, if I have the good fortune to be alive in another 17 years, who knows where my “Gypsy” (not “Gypsy Moth!”) self will be. So for now, I will treat this year as something special which may not come again. In fact, living each day to the fullest is not a bad idea during any time or season of life.

Orientalist Art by V. Peccatte

by Aziza Al-Tawil

Two stunning vases by 19th Century French artist Peccatte. About 15 years ago, two larger vases with similar artwork of the the two women were auctioned off for sixty thousand dollars at “Christie’s.”

Coming soon

in “Egyptian Chick Magazine”:

Aristotle Onassis – an untold story.

“Tayoun’s Mahrajan” – Photo Essay and Memories of 1966.

This magazine is funded by affiliate marketing through “Amazon” and other such companies. If you purchase something through a link within a timely fashion we will receive a small commission. We post the “Saint Jude’s” children’s hospital link as a service to the world community and will receive no remuneration for your charitable gift. To donate to “Saint Judes” Click here….

Billy Jack Watkins, writer, and field co-coordinator

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Letter from the Editor:

Just when you think the latest dirty word might be “Millennials” – you know – the name for the generation after “X” – the ones so wrapped up in their cell phones you’re not sure they know you’re alive sometimes – something actually happens to bring out and indeed “underscore” their humanity.

As a member of the so-called “Generation X” that came after the “baby boomers” and has pre-dated the “Millennials” (Think Molly Ringwald, Winona Ryder, Leonardo Di Caprio etc.) I relished a chance to witness a major “demonstration” of “Millennials” in action. The Bernie Sanders rally in Huntington, WV in April was indeed that “chance.”

Faces in the crowd at the Bernie Sanders rally.

It was indeed an experience to watch a college generation and younger group shed “apathy” and rise up with “idealism” and “hope” once more. Bernie Sanders campaign is straight out of the 1960’s-the era that gives him his greatness. For if anyone lacks an apathetic bone in their body it is indeed Bernie Sanders. After years of rising tuition costs and student loan debt that could even cripple “Atlas,” the “Millennials” have been “re-charged” by Bernie, a man who speaks to their needs and indeed to the needs of all generations right now. This month’s issue will take you on the life changing journey I took replete with photos that will move you. This goes to press the night before the Indiana primary. “Egyptian Chick Magazine” plans to follow many of the upcoming results closely and is planning a fundraiser to go to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia in July. (You can support the magazine by shopping our affiliate links at the end of our issue or make a direct PayPal donation to the following address: freeazizanow@aol.com).

Passionate young people

In another article we will meet a 14 year old artist, wise beyond her years, whose depth and talent will move you and show you yet another “Millennial” in action. People like Josephine Homonai also give us hope for the arts since we’ve become a society that gives less and less support to those with these sorts of talents.

Besides some other changes that are afoot, perhaps people like Josephine can bring attention back to nurturing art and music in our schools once more. Read on! Thanks.

Aziza Al-Tawil, Editor in Chief

Brought to you in part by:

Budding Young Artist About to Bloom: The Enchanting World of Josephine Homonai

If you think it’s inspiring to come from an artistic background, or it might even end up in your “DNA,” you might be right. Especially, in the case of the young lady you are about to meet.

This young and talented Egyptian American woman is another in a long line of a very branched out tree that includes a grandfather, Samir Al-Tawil who wrote an international hit song called “Linda Linda,” a mother , Mary, who is a “hip hop” dancer and poet, a grandmother, Rawiya who was a famous Egyptian belly dancer, an Aunt, Azza Sherif who was also a famous Egyptian belly dancer and movie star, an Aunt, Aziza Al-Tawil who is a famous American belly dancer, singer, actress and artist, and yet another aunt, Vergine Al-Tawil who is a visual artist. And her uncle Garo sings!

In addition to Egyptian and Armenian heritage, 14 year old artist Josie Homonai has a touch of the “Magyar” in her, through Dad Scott who is no less than proud of his little girl’s accomplishments at a young age.

As a child, Josie was aware of art, and developed a love for it, but never dreamed she would be creating the way she does now. At one point, besides the “Abstract Expressionism and French Impressionism” of her Aunt Vergine Al-Tawil’s work, Josie found inspiration in Van Gogh. She discovered him on her own as she was not taught about him in school.

After doing some modeling and acting, about a year ago Josie Homonai “took the plunge” and decided to be an artist herself. Her friends were amazed at how quickly she could render a portrait of a friend and how well it turned out. With their encouragement she decided to continue down this path and now some of her work takes anywhere from fifty minutes to a couple of weeks to complete. She is also a regular fixture, along with Jeff Nicholas “The Amazing Jeffrey the Cartoonist,” on the “Wadsworth Channel” in suburban Cleveland (Josie was born in Las Vegas but moved to Ohio at age five). For Josie, art is a more “spiritual” venture though that literally takes her to “another world.”

While Josie enjoys showing her completed works on TV and dreams of having “a name” in the business, her goals and intentions are much loftier. She wants people to feel that through art there is “hope.” She has tutored other kids in literature and art in after school programs and also taught first and second graders art through a Salvation Army program. Josie says she knows how cruel the world can be at times, but despite a few instances of “bullying” towards her she has mostly managed to keep going. Her loving and supportive family have seen to it.

Josie was shown a little bit of belly dancing by her mother, and Josie says she might like to learn more one day. Being an artist is something she definitely plans to continue through college along with becoming a nurse. In fact, Josie has already started bringing her own brand of cheer to a local nursing home. Some of her works now grace the walls of various homes and she has started a Facebook page to sell her art. She is also writing a book called “Still Here.” Josie also loves animals.

I’m sure this is not the last we will hear about this fascinating young lady. For more information on her art and/or how to purchase pieces go to her art page on Facebook: Josephine_HomonaiArt

“Woman of Tears” by Josephine Homonai

Brought to you in part by:

“Volunteers of America”: Bernie Sanders Calls to Mind “Jefferson Airplane” in West Virginia

By Aziza Al-Tawil

After taking a wrong turn on the way to our insurance man’s office one day, I circled the block and saw it on the corner: The headquarters for the Bernie Sanders campaign. After becoming a devotee’ of his message months and months before this – now was the time to actually do something about it. So Billy Jack Watkins and I went in and joined in the “Grand Opening” of the Charleston, WV office. Whitney Roberts, a Catawba Indian American from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina greeted people with gleaming eyes and a lipstick red dress. The other office manager, Connor Ruby, was from Stowe, MA making the team an interesting cross-section of America. After breaking bread with these folks (or I should say pizza!) we officially became “Volunteers.”

By that weekend the news hit. Bernie Sanders was actually coming to West Virginia and would be in Huntington on Tuesday. I was already planning to write an article for the magazine, but this exceeded anything I could have dreamed of under such short notice. I told everyone it just seemed like some sort of “Providence.”

When I was a young girl, too young to vote but old enough to have strong feelings about the world, I attended the rally in Charleston, WV for Jimmy Carter’s former Vice President Walter Mondale, who was now running for President himself. The year was 1984 and my mother, a single parent, had been struggling for several years.

Not too long before this, some cockamamie “Reaganomics” law had given kickbacks to companies that “over hired” for jobs that didn’t exist. You could be hired and then have hours cut a few weeks later. The unemployment rate would look better for a while but you would be tortured into quitting so you couldn’t file for unemployment. This horrendous torture was inflicted on my mother and one story is a testament to her strength. Her hours kept getting cut like the others they were trying to get rid of before the next “hiring round” would start up again. They cut her hours. My mother showed up. They cut her hours again. She showed up. They cut her hours again. She showed up for work again. Finally, they cut her down to one single, solitary hour. My mother rode a bus to work to get in that one hour. The management was floored. They asked why she even showed up. She said, “I have a daughter.” They said something to the effect of, “OK. We can’t break you. We’re laying you off.”

“You can’t break me” is a phrase that has almost run through my psyche like an anthem. Besides a courageous mother, having a progressive, and tough Cherokee grandmother did not hurt me either. She wanted Jesse Jackson to be president and was a firm believer in “The Rainbow Coalition” until her death from a brain tumor.

That miserable rainy day, in 1984, three generations of strong women watched hopes for a Democratic presidency go down the drain, literally, for when we stepped out of the indoor rally into the street I spotted one of Mondale’s posters riding the waves of water down the gutter and into a sewer opening. I felt desolate. It was prophetic indeed. Within a couple of years I joined the musicians union and left town for Boston. There I played guitar, wrote songs, belly danced, and ran around in the Winter bundled up in a big coat with the theme of “Dr. Zhivago” running through my head. I joined the peace movement through a local synagogue. Ate Indian “take-out” with a young lover. I also entered the labor force in Boston as I was now old enough. Without getting too far off topic here let me just say that Bernie Sanders is the living embodiment of the term “You Can’t Break Me.” In other words if your Mama never had to ride the bus for one hour of work or be damned you may never fully understand what a guy like Bernie Sanders is about.

Two American Beauties About to Go in to See Bernie.

When our carpool arrived in Huntington we were dispatched to do our jobs. Along with our carpool hostess Malyka Knapp-Smith, we helped the Secret Service and “Big Sandy Superstore Arena” security with crowd control. The crowd was much larger than anticipated and room was made by opening up extra seating sections. (Bernie had already drawn crowds in the upwards of forty thousand. Why they did not expect to fill over 5,000 seats here is beyond me). The final estimate was 6,500 people.

The “Button Man.”

Peter Marshall, the host of “Hollywood Squares” and a native of Huntington, WV once said “Stand on any street corner in West Virginia and the most beautiful women will walk by.”

“The Blonde”

What he said years ago has certainly not changed for the minute I got out there with my camera I saw “stars.”

One young woman I will call “The Blonde,” was as mesmerizing as Charlize Theron or any other Hollywood bombshell. She had the “Marilyn” factor “in spades!” A series of shots of her culminating in one from indoors when she was watching Bernie Sanders speak – it just spoke volumes of the love people have for this man. She is probably no more than about 20 years old but was looking at him with the adoration that a man of any age dreams of. Be reminded that while television pundits dismiss his charm as being like “Grandpa,” in reality and in person this is a man who should not be stripped of his youthful virility. In other words, Bernie may be an elderly man but he is not “frail.”

“Neo Hippies” with personality charmed people outside. I cried out “You remind me of Woodstock!” whereupon this amiable young lady posed and flashed me the peace sign.

After everyone from the outside was seated inside, a lady in charge of the event screamed at us “VIP SECTION NOW!” (Malyka was pivotal in keeping our group together during the chaos and demanding that Bill and I not get lost in the shuffle. She saw to it that we made it to the VIP section with her as members of the press, etc.) In “VIP” we were joined by representatives of the dynamic and burgeoning “Progressive” wing of West Virginia’s Democratic Party including 19 year veteran of the West Virginia Senate and candidate for governor Jeff Kessler, and first term House of Delegates Michael Pushkin.

“Americans with Disabilities Act” spectators getting ready for the “man of the hour.”

Kessler, an affable and likeable gentleman, is concerned about a litany of issues including drug addiction treatment for youth after the experience of going through it with his own son and he has also been brave enough to let the coal industry know that West Virginia has to branch out into some other areas, that coal is not “King” any more.

As for Pushkin, the charismatic President of Local 136 of the American Federation of Musicians, a descendent of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, and first term House of Delegates member, he is already shaping up to be a politician with a future. Also, a taxi driver by night, his campaigns feature intriguing signs with the unmistakable yellow and black checkerboard design.

Another passionate defender of people’s rights and “the little guy,” Michael Pushkin goes up against distasteful bills with the passion of David against Goliath. His recent speech on the West Virginia House floor about a religious freedom bill that was merely a thinly disguised attempt to legalize discrimination – case in point: a baker having to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding reception. Pushkin described how we already have laws that defend all our rights in our federal and state constitution. As for “HB 4012” he pointed out that many things in life that conflict with religion are mere “inconveniences” not necessarily “persecution.” At the end of his speech he said it all: “Baking a cake is not ‘persecution.’ Getting baked in an oven – is ‘persecuted!’.”

The rains were “on and off” that day.

So there we were, the Democratic Party Delegation from Charleston, awaiting the speech of one of the most sensational politicians that have ever drawn a breath. What did it feel like? Take a guess, folks.

Marshall Grad and West Virginia “Progressive” Robin Tucker giving a thumbs up to the proceedings. The other lady is un- identified at this time.

We were all breathless when we saw them let in a crew of photographers to take positions near his podium. We knew he would make his entrance soon.

A serious and somewhat weary looking photographer comes out with some other members of the press to take positions near the stage.

Then the magic happened. Bernie had entered the room.

The last time I saw “The Blonde.” The way her face filled with adoration for Bernie should go down in history like famous moments from “Life” and “National Geographic.”

Malyka Knapp-Smith – during what will be considered a shining moment in her life.

Bernie Sanders delivered a speech to West Virginia that resonated. He touched on all the issues that concern. At one point he brought tears to my eyes. It’s one thing to see something on “TV” and yet another to experience something “live.”

Amazingly, even though this was indeed a diverse crowd, the most thunderous response came to Bernie’s mention of seeking “racial equality.” While I don’t know the exact ratio of “White to Black” in the audience- it seemed like there were more “whites.” That’s why the almost “apocalyptic” sounding noise of approval from the audience really warmed your heart. It was touching to know that how we treat our fellow man as “equals” was an issue given more importance than our own personal economic woes – the love of our neighbor being worth more than gold. I was proud to be home in my mother’s home state of West Virginia and be experiencing this kind of spiritual journey.

As Bernie was leaving the stage the “Secret Service” accompanied him around the perimeter of the barriers so he could greet the public. When Bernie got to me he saw the big camera in my hands. I reached out and patted him on the side and said, “I’m from New York too. I just love you…” He smiled warmly and his bright blue eyes gleamed. He made his way past and smiled back at me once before continuing.

Mike Pushkin tried to give Bernie some “Matzo Ball Soup” from a lady he knew who made it but the “Secret Service” did not seem too thrilled. His intentions were good though.

The happy crowd leaves the arena after the rally.

Bernie Sanders deserves to be our most high “public servant.” He will return us to the “New Deal” of FDR’s presidency. For those with short memories or no knowledge, we did not become “Communists” under FDR, we were actually “saved” from “becoming” Communists. Our country as a “Democracy” was allowed to continue and endure.